Response to anon letter in Travel Weekly

I love the letters page of some of the travel industry trade press. It is where people who haven’t found blogs get to vent their frustration about various aspects of the industry.

One letter that grabbed my attention this week was in Travel Weekly. It was written as “Name and address withheld”….. which I find a rather unattractive way of publishing. I know publishing “with name” is hard…. indeed I was talking to someone the other day who had commented recently on a blog….. and they mentioned that they had felt very exposed…. well yes - and I feel exposed every time I publish…. it is just something you have to learn to live with.

So what did the letter say?

Extra time not on in travel agency

I have worked in the travel industry for several years for a top high-street travel agency. I enjoy the work and always meet my targets.

Does this mean that the targets are not set high enough?

But I have major concerns about employees being continually asked to work beyond their normal hours. We constantly leave work late, sometimes after 7pm in a day that should finish at 5.30pm. This gives the company several hours’ free work per employee every week.

Umm…. You are the company - the company is you. I worry about any employee that refers to their place of work in the 3rd party. Maybe it was just the way the letter was written.

When we approach our manager about this problem, the usual answer is: “There is nothing I or your employer will do to reimburse you for your personal time”.

Well yes. The manager is right. However, if you have asked your manager more than once…. maybe you should look at how you are asking - or whether you are asking the right manager - or even if you are asking the right question.

It is difficult for us to leave on time because if a customer comes into the store after 5pm, it can take upto two hours to complete a sale.

This is the line that made me want to write this response. Firstly - your customers want to access your experience and knowledge at a time that suits them. If they themselves are at work all day…. then of course they want to come to see you after they have finished. Going back to the point about working hours….. maybe you can start a “late” shop shift (perhaps starting later in the morning for days that you work late)….. You could form a rota with the other staff at the shop to ensure late coverage.

However, what really interests me is the line about it taking upto 2 hours to complete a sale. What are they doing in that 2 hours? Is this product research, customer decision time or just struggling to get through to the product supplier (e.g. a tour operator) in order to check on some specific detail on behalf of the client. I would love to know how this 2 hours breaks down.

If you ask the customer to come back tomorrow they might go to another shop, so I never refuse an enquiry.

The attitude is correct. I like this attitude because I like to bend over backwards to ensure that a client is served 100% (although my business is a slightly different one). However, it does show a slight lack of confidence in this agent’s own approach to sales. What could the agent do to ensure that they can “close” the sale quickly - but deal with the transaction the next day during office hours? (or incentivise the customer to return the next day).

The travel web industry
I am not a great fan of this “long work hours” mentality that many people believe goes hand in hand with working in a travel technology or web company. However I think this high street travel agent ought to consider how their competitors (probably online travel websites) are working flat out to put them out of business. The battle isn’t pretty - and likely the most focussed on “winning” will come out with a job in +5 years time.

Many web design agencies - and other service companies - will work an “all nighter” in order to meet a deadline and not let down a client….. and at the technology end of the travel industry….. working late at night is a common period…. as uninterupted time is when most work gets achieved (and when upgrades can be scheduled) 

So yes - if you have a family - then working until 7pm when you are expecting to work until 5.30 pm isn’t what you want….. so the challenge is to create a business environment where, if your customers want you “after office hours” then the manager should be creating staff work time processes that support this.

This may require a redesign of how a high street travel agent operates. I believe that some form of high street presence will still be available going forwards - but only those that are fully focussed on being available when customers want them. Shutting at 5.30pm just won’t be good enough. In fact, in high street travel agencies of the future… this maybe the opening time!

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