The pace of this sector is anything but leisurely… and our clients – who include British Airways Holidays and Thomas Cook – like the way we respond. In their words…

“Inkfish’s recognition of opportunities beyond the original brief resulted in a new approach which delivered increased revenue for us and them. It was truly a win-win partnership”.

So what’s the secret of Inkfish’s appeal to leisure clients?

#1: Back-to-front expertise
A recent project for a well-known holiday brand typifies our approach. We went out of our way to ensure our lines were manned by travel experts ~ recruiting those with extensive travel knowledge and experience. Not just for the front-line team, but for all levels of management.

#2: Seizing opportunities
When your preferred option is fully booked, agents need to think on their feet – and respond by identifying cross-sell, up-sell and other opportunities, as they quickly direct customers to alternatives. One client was recently rewarded with up-sell to premium cabins on 51% of flights booked during Year Two of our relationship.

#3: Project-specific solutions
For one client we saw the scope to focus on their highest value package. To deliver a suitably VIP concierge-style service, we developed and trained a special dedicated team. Soon this project became a prestige area to work in, resulting in extremely high staff and skill retention. More impressive still were the project results:

• Our target for conversion at the inception of our relationship was a 1:12 booking to call ratio. We achieved 1:8.8 on an ongoing basis.

• Inkfish were also mystery shopped on our premium programme as providing the best service in the industry against long-established travel companies.

#4: Brand immersion
While others might talk of being “an extension of your company”, we take it to the next level.

Example: Through intensive contact with client brand managers, trainers and marketers, we ensured every voice on the phone reflected the client’s brand. Immersing ourselves in our clients’ culture was key to our success in this area. This was achieved through call centre branding, joint social activities, job swaps between our respective offices, incentivising with our client's product, as well as our agents taking trips to key product destinations.

Result: Such brand immersion has enabled all agents to speak with the benefit of first-hand experience, and to develop a genuine passion for our client and their brand. This has led to 15% of their current workforce having first worked for Inkfish, a policy actively encouraged by ourselves.