The right service for the right customer
The needs of today’s business travellers are becoming increasingly varied, between companies and within them. Amadeus Magazine has spoken to Carlson Wagonlit Travel to find out how business travel agencies can offer the right type of service to different customers.
Different customers have different requirements of business travel agencies. This has become more and more apparent over the years. Self-booking systems, demands for savings, low-cost players and new travel patterns are just some of the things that have changed business travel today. The job of the business travel agency is to meet each customer’s needs and fulfil the expected demand for service. This in itself is nothing new, but doing it at the right price is becoming the key to ensuring that business travel agencies can maintain a good level of profit.
“We are constantly working on internal efficiency in order to maintain high-quality,” explains Torben Rodenberg, Director Account Management at Carlson Wagonlit Travel in Denmark. “As we always work closely with our customers, they can quickly switch between our range of services, which adds value for them.”
At Carlson Wagonlit Travel, like with most business travel agencies, price is a crucial factor for customers. However, flexibility is also vital for many companies, since the time factor is becoming an increasingly large element of the trip’s total price. Close collaboration with customers leads to better knowledge about what might be required in the future.
The drive for companies to cut costs also means that demand for self-booking systems continues to grow. The systems are easy to use, which makes them a cost-effective way for business travellers to book point-to-point tickets themselves. Many companies choose to combine a self-booking system with full service from a business travel agency. This allows the company to cover all its travel needs and establish its own priorities in terms of service, price and flexibility.
“We ensure that we can offer customers a host of different solutions, for example in-house, online booking, call centre and business travel centre,” comments Mr Rodenberg. “We work with the customer to try and find the optimum solution.”
But how will customer needs change in the next few years? Amadeus Magazine put that question to Carlson Wagonlit Travel.
“Business travel agencies have gone from processing orders to being a travel consultant for the customer,” says Mr Rodenberg. “We have to continue creating value in our partnership with the customer, and be able to advise them in every situation that might arise. Clearly, this trend is going to strengthen over the coming years.”
