p34-35 letters nov14 11/11/08 16:52 Page 35
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Staff training is key to Snide comments from staff Collette honours pledge to
beating the credit crunch who failed to put me on hold pay referral commission
As belts tighten, training budgets are often With all the reports of the credit crunch in the One of the promises made by Collette Holidays
the first casualty of cost cutting. However, in media, you would think customer service – during their recent training session was their
an open letter last month, the senior retail whether to an agent or client – is of the pledge to pay commission for any referral
industry figures who make up the UK utmost importance for us all to keep our by an agent by direct clients.
Commission of Employment and Skills (UKCES), businesses sucessful and ultimtely ourselves To my delight, I received a cheque last week
warned that it was a “false economy” to cut in jobs. for £856 commission, for clients who had taken
staff training budgets. However, what seemed like a “normal” a Collette brochure with our agency stamp on
The report said: “Investing now in building request became something more to a member the booking form that they sent in direct.
new skills will put us in the strongest position of staff at Thomas Cook Signature, after I Having been in this business for 42 years,
as the economy recovers. From our experience enquired about availability for three adults to it is good to know Collette value the loyalty
in previous downturns, it was the businesses travel to Disneyland Resort Paris in November. and support of high street agents.
that did invest in their staff that saw the most After supposedly being put on hold, the staff After a Collette holiday, our clients cannot
dynamic recovery.” member and a colleague began a bitter chat speak highly enough of the superb attention
UKCES was launched in April 2008 to enforce about myself. Apparently, I was asking the to detail of all the arrangements, and of the
the recommendations of the Leitch Report, member of staff to price up “about seven life-long memories of these superb holidays.
2006, which called for development of the million properties” and the quote took all
national workforce to achieve a “level 2” morning. In actual fact, I asked for two Micael Holden, area manager,
qualification. properties and it had taken 15 minutes. Bath Travel, Ryde, Isle of Wight
We have the perfect compromise to help More snide comments followed. Totally
employers train their way safely through the unhappy with their attitude, I was very Thanks to Somak Holidays
economic downturn. reluctant to go back to them and confirm for an inspiring fam trip
Training like ours is free to employers this booking when the client asked me to. A very big thank you to Somak Holidays,
because we are government-funded, so Despite repeating the client names several especially Louise, our tour guide, for the
companies can work with us to meet the Leitch times, the member of staff continuously wonderful educational trip to Kenya recently.
report target of getting everyone to level 2 and spelt and said them wrong, and seemed to It was a perfect itinerary that allowed
develop a skilled, qualified workforce, without do anything he could to make the process our group to gain as much information and
it costing them a penny. difficult for me. knowledge as possible, while also enjoying the
We find that training our candidates to gain The operator then insisted they could not inspiring scenery of the Masi Mara and Tsavo.
nationally recognised qualifications motivates confirm the flights until I had exact dates of
them and makes them feel valued employees. birth of each traveller, despite the airline not Linda Moses, manager,
Research has also shown that those who are needing the information. The Travel Centre Worldchoice, Brighton
on these programmes of learning increase Eventually the trip got sorted, but as it took
sales by an average of 17%, while retention up most of the day I was unable to put work
What do you think?
is at an average of 75%, compared with an and time into other quotes we had.
industry average of 60%. I suggest Signature puts money into retrain- The deadline for letters is 10am on Tuesday.
The letter from UKCES finishes: “The skills ing its staff – not only on their customer service We need your name, job title and company
of our people are our best guarantee of future and listening skills, but also to put a big sign on address. These will be withheld on request.
prosperity – and the best investment a business their telephone “hold” buttons just to remind Priority is given to letters sent exclusively
can make in a challenging time. We must not them that it is there to be used. to TTG. Please limit letters to 250 words
pay the price of failing to invest in the talent on maximum. We reserve the right to edit.
which our future will be built.” Rebecca Eady Email: ttgletters@ttglive.com
Spa Travel, Boston Spa, Wetherby Fax: 020 7921 8033
Sally Makin Blog: Or why not have your say online?
business development manager, ■ TTG would welcome a reply from Write a blog at yourspace-ttglive.com
Training for Travel Thomas Cook Signature
14.11.2008 35
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